Building construction



April 12, 1938.

F. STREKCH BUILDING CONSTRUCTION 1935 2 Sheetsheet l Filed Dec.

F. STREICH BUELDING CONSTRUCTION April 12, 193s.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .www

Filed Dec. 9, 1935 -Patentecl Apr. 12, 19.38

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION FrankfStreich, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Simplex Metal Housing Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a. corporation of Illinois Application December 9, 1935, Serial No. 53,578 7 Claims. (Cl. 18S-86) My inventlonrelates to building constructions for houses and the like in which the outside surface or sheathing of the wall is of sheet metal. Such buildings ordinarily consist of a framework air or water and which are also formed to permit a slipping of the panels with respect to each other and to the structural support or framework so that the panels may freely expand and of steel beams resting upon a suitable foundation contract with changes in temperature without 5 'and walls of sheet metal panels attached therebuckling and distortion and Without substantial to. It is ordinary practice to prepare the ele- Change in their position in the building Wall. ments of the framework and the panels as far as In the drawings accompanying and forming a possible at the factory, cutting them to size and jpart of this specification I have illustrated the otherwise manipulating them so that as little invention in apreferred embodiment thereof, the l0 work as possime remains to be done upon them drawings Showing so much of a lower portion of a after they reachthe site `upon which they are to building embodying the invention, together with be erected. Such buildings and this practice of certain details thereof, as iS necessary to an' pre-fabricating the elements thereof as far as understanding 0f the inVentiOIL- l5 possible at the factory has marked advantages In the drawings, Figure l is an isometric view l5 over the more ordinary methods of building 0f a portion 0f e building embOdying my invenfformerly, and now, commonly in use, particu tion', partly in Yertiooi section and partially brolarly in respect to economy, rapidity of erection ken eWey t0 better ShOW the Structure; and permanence. However, great difiiculty has Fig- 2 iS a Plan VeWPeltly in Section on the been encountered in making and maintaining plane 0f the line 2-2 0f Fig- 1; 20 such buildings and the wallsthereof weather- Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the plane 0f the tight. This is in large measure due to the exline 3-3 of Fig. 2; pension and contraction of the metal of which Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but 0f u Slightly the elements of the structure are composed, parmodified form; and '25 ticularly o1' the panels, due to changes in tem- Fig. 5 is an isometric view illustrating an in- 25 perature to which they are exposed. Ordinarily terior 0r lining wall to be employed in buildings the panels are of considerable size and this is deembOdying my invention. sirable from the standpoint of economy, and it Referring first to the form of the invention has been found particularly desirable to make the illustrated in FigS 1, 2 and 3, the Structural 0 panels of considerable length, and lay them in framework is shown as comprising sill members 30 horizontal courses in the walls. The effect of 5 of plete metal and upright I-beamS l. The temperature changes is particularly important sill members, of course, rest upon and may be in the case of these larger size panels. If the anchored to a suitable foundation of concrete or panels are rigidly secured to each other at their the like. Each sill member is of heavy sheet meeting edges and to the framework as is the metal and formed at its Outer edge With an up 35 common practice, something must give with the Werdly eXtending leuge 3 fOr 9 DUI'POSe Which expansion and contraction of the metal and the Will appear- The I-bee-InS, es Shown, are formed panels are either more or less buckled, warped t each 0f tWO lengths 0r SeCtiOnS 0f heVy Sheet and distorted in whole or in part or the fastenings metal eah Comprising a Central Web l having 4o by which they are secured together and to the flanges 9 at the edges thereof, the tWO Sections 40 framework are loosened or disrupted or both. being suitably Seeured together et their Webs As a consequence, even though as originally conby Welding or riveting and together forming the structed, the joints between the panels are reacomplete r-beam. The I-beams may be secured sonably close land tight, they soon become more to the sill in any desired manner though I prefer or less open for the passage of wind and rainfor this purpose the construction best shown in 45 water. Caulking or filling the joints between Figs. 1 and 2. In this construction one of the the panels with a somewhat elastic or compres- SeCtiOnS 0f the I-beuin'S S0 Cut that the Web sive material has not solved the difficulty. extends beyond the langeS thereof and iS Struck My inventionhas for its object the remedying up at right angles t0 the bOdY 0f the Web t0 fOIm of the foregoing objections and providing walls a laterally projecting flange IU. When the I- 50 foisuch buildings which are and remain subbeam iS in place in the framework, the flange stantiany weather-proof. With this in view, I rests upon the sill and is overlapped by a clip il provide a construction in which the joints bewelded or otherwise secured to the sill, see Fig. 1. tween adjacent panels are so formed and over- The clips l I may be secured in place on the sill at the factory and after the sills are suitably an- 55 lapped as to effectively preclude the passage of chored on the foundation the upright beams may be placed on end thereon and manipulated -to slip the flanges thereof beneath the respective as the vertical I-beams described but the webs on the horizontal beams.

to the lower ends of the vertical beams is by providing theadjacent portion of the flanges 9 of the latter withextensions l which are foldedback toward the flanges, as shown in Fig. 2, to form channels which receive the flanges I4, i4 These extensions i5 are preferably bent about the flanges i4 of the horizontal beams after the latter are in place. In the drawings I have shown only the horizontal beams for the lowermost floor but it will be obvious that a similar construction can be employed for the horizontal beams of the upper floors in the case of buildings of more than one floor. Other framework constructions may be employed in connection with the particular wall construction to which my invention more particularly relates.

The vertical beams are provided at suitable intervals, depending upon the height of the wall panel sections, with attaching clips 1. These clips are formed by folding small sections of sheet metal as at i8 to provide a leaf i9 which is secured by spot welding or otherwise to the upright, and a leaf which is free at its'upper portion to engage the wall panels or elements now to be described.

In the preferred construction the panels arel Each comprises a recsubstantially' identical. tangular main body portion 2| of the desired shape and dimensions which forms an element of the outer surface of the wall, and upper, lower and end flanges 22, 23, 24, 25. which are bent up from the edges of the sheet from which the panel ls formed to constitute with the body portion a'shallow pan. The sheet from which the panel is formed is so cut that provision is made at one end for forming not only the flange but also an interlocking leaf or flap 26 by folding the sheet outwardly and rearwardly upon itself as at 26 to form with the flange a narrow channel or recess 2l. When two such units are assembled end to end, flange 24 of the one unit enters the channelV or recess in the folded end flange of the adjacent unit and the units are thus interlocked, the joint being substantially weather-proof, as will be seen in Fig. 2. In the completed wall each horizontal course is made up of a series of units so interlocked.

In laying out and cutting the blanks from which the panel is formed, the portion thereof from which the lower flange 23 is formed is cut of such width as to provide material to form also the channeled interlocking member 28. The material beyond the flange 23 is bent upwardly toward the center of the panel at 29 and then foldeddownwardly as at 3U to form the channeled interlocking member 28 on the free edge of flange 23. The extension of the blank from which the upper flange 22 of the panel is cut is 0f Sucient breadth to provide also for an upwardly extending interlocking lip or leaf 3|, see Fig. 3.

The channeled interlocking member 28 en each of the panels which are to constitute the lowermost course in the wall is so formed as to provide a recess 32 which will closely t the edge flange 8 of the sill. In forming the wall from these panels or wall elements, the panels of the lower course are assembled and interlocked with each other and are interlccked with the flange 8 of the sill by bringing their channeled interlocking members into registry with the flange on the sill and pressing them downwardly until they occupy the position shown in Fig. 3. AA weather-tight joint is thus formed with the sill, which supports the panels, and the lip or leaf 3| on the upper flange of each panel ilts against the corresponding clip or clips on the upright beams. In locating the other successive courses of panels, the channeled interlocking member on the bottom of each panel is slipped over one or more clips I1 on the upright beams and also the lip 3| on the upper ilange of the panel immediately beneath thus locking it in place. It will be clear that the interlocking construction just described. by virtue of the downwardly open channel of an upper panel receiving the lip of the upper flange of the panel beneath forms a substantially weather-tight joint so that both the vertical and the horizontal joints in the wall construction are effectively proof against penetration by air flow and particularly against the entrance of water. Moreover, the species of joint described permits a sufficient sliding or slipping movement of the panels relative to each other and to the framework to take up or allow for expansion and contraction of the panels due to changes in temperature and thus obviate strains and stresses in` the panels due to'heating and cooling which, as above stated, would otherwise tend to warp and buckle the panels and loosen and disrupt the rigid fastenings or securing means.

I prefer to make the flanges of the panels of substantial depth to form in each a boxing Aor pan and to locate therein in the case of' each panel a substantial body of insulating material. Preferably I employ rigid blocks of brous cemented material such as is now available on thc market. which blocks are so cut as to closely fit the pans or hollows of the panels and thus not only provide insulation but considerably contribute to the rigidity of the panels and support them against the effects of blows or the like.

In some situations, however, insulation is not desirable or necessary and therefore the depth of the flanges of the panels as illustrated in Figs. l, 2 and 3 may be reduced or substantially eliminated In Fig. 4, I have illustrated such a modified construction. In this form of the invention the pan flanges are substantially omitted and the lip 3|' and the interlocking member 29 are formed substantially at the respective upper and lower edges of the body 2| though slightly offset with respect thereto. The adjacent edges of panels in the same courses or tiers may be interlocked in substantially the same manner as described in connection with the panels of Figs. 1, 2 and 3 except that the interlocking members extend only a short distance from the panel body. If a double wall structure having intermediate air spaces is desired, it may readily be provided by constructing an inner wall as shown in Fig. 5. In this case the uprights are provided on their inner as well as their outer faces with the clips I l, suitably spaced apart vertically. The inner wall may be formed of slabs 40 of rigid material such as the fibrous insulating material previously mentioned. In this event the inner as well as the outer edge of each of the sill plates is formed with an upturned flange 4I. The slabs constituting the inner wall are formed with grooves or kerfs in their upper and lower edges and metal strips 42 S-shaped in cross-section as shown in Fig. 5 are provided for securing the bottom edges of the slabs Yof the lowermost course to the sill. The upturned outer edge or ilange 43 of the securing strip 42 enters the kerfs 4I on the sill. Metal strips 45 somewhat similar to the strips 42 but specifically different may be employed between the courses. of slabs for holding them in alignment and securing them to the uprights. As seen in Fig. 5, the-strips 45 at one edge are formed like strips 42 providing a channel 46 for engaging the clips l1 on the upright beams. The other edges of the strips 45 are bent upwardly at right angles to the main body thereof as at 41 and then folded back as at 48 to provide an upwardly extending flange or rib which enters the kerf or groove in the lower edges of the slabs of the upper course and a flange which enters the grooves in the upper edges of the slabs of the lower course. Preferably the metal strips 42, 45 extend the entire length of the wall, though this is not essential and they may be made in sections.

If desired the slabs may be staggered from course to course as shown in Fig. 5.

The outer surface of the panels of the outer walls may be of any desired size and configuration. They may be so formed that the joints between them are not readily discernible, particularly when the wall is paintedor otherwise surfaced, or the panels may be made of suitable size and chamfered at their outer edges to imitate cut stone, brick or the like.

It will be seen that my invention provides a wall construction the elements of which may be substantially and completely fabricated at the factory and speedily assembled into the building without any considerable manipulation after they leave the factory, and by reason of the particular nature or form of thejoints between the panels and the provision for expansion and contraction the wall is substantially weather-proof and remains so.

I claim:

l. In a building construction of the class described, a supporting frame, panel supporting clips thereon, a series of superposed horizontal courses of panels constituting a wall, each of said panels formed of a continuous sheet of metal and comprising a rectangular body, a lip offset inwardly and extending upwardly from the upper -edge of said body in a plane parallel to the latter, a folded interlocking member extending upwardly from the lower edge of the body in the same plane as said lip and having a channel therein opening downwardly, the channels of the interlocking members on the panels of each course except the lowermost receiving the lips of the panels of the course beneath them and also the adjacent supporting clips on the rarne, each panel also having an inwardly extending straight flange at one end, and a flange on its other end extending inwardly and folded outwardly upon itself to form a recess which receives and interlocks with the straight end flange on the adjacent panel, all said lip, clip, ange and interlocking members being slip-fitted together independently of separate fastening means.

2. In a building construction of the-class described, a frame structure comprising sill members, upright beam members of I-shape in cross section each including a central web portion having anges at the oppositeedges thereof, said web portions at one end being extended'and turned at right angles to the plane of the web so as to seat upon the respective sill, clip means on the respective sill and forming a recess adapted to slidably Vreceive the respective extended end of said web portion for interlockingly engaging said sills and upright beams, horizontally disposedY Abeam members shaped simllarly to said uprightbeam members and also having their-web portions extended at one end at right angles similarly to the web portions of said upright beams, and extensions on the flanges of the upright beams folded over and upon the web portion extensions cf the horizontal beams to interlockingly secure the horizontal beams upon the upright beams.

3. In a building construction of the class described, a frame structure comprising sill members, upright beam members of I-shape in cross section each including a central web portion having flanges at the opposite edges thereof, said web portions at one end-being extended and turned at right angles to the plane of the web so as to seat upon the respective sill, clip means on the respective sill and forming a recess adapted to slidably receive the respective extended end of said web portion for interlockingly engaging said sills and upright beams, horizontally disposed beam members shaped similarly to Asaid upright beam members and also having their web portions extended at one end at right angles similarly to the web portions of said upright beams, extensions on the flanges of the upright beams folded over and upon the web portion extensions of the horizontal beams to interlockingly secure the horizontal beams upon the upright beams, and clip members formed upon the flanges of said upright beams, opposite the flanges thereof`- to which said horizontal beams are secured, which clip members are adapted for supporting wallforming elements.

4. In a building construction of the, class described, a supporting frame, panel supporting clips thereon, a series of superposed horizontal courses of panels constituting a wall, the panels of each course being arranged in end-to-end abutting relation and having longitudinally extending recesses in both the upper and lower edges thereof,and means for supporting said panels in their superposed course and end-to-end relationship, which means comprises one or more members having a downwardly opening channeled leg portion adapted to slidably fit over and receive said panel supporting clips, and also having a T-shaped portion extending away from said channeled portion in horizontal direction so that one part of the T-headof said T-shaped portion engages in the bottom slots o-f the panels of one course and the other portion of its T-head engages in the uppermost slots of the panels of the next lower course, whereby all said panels are supported in slidable relation with respect to each other and 'to said frame and are held in a predetermined wall plane.

5. In a building construction of the class described, a horizontal sill member having upwardly extending flanges at the opposite longitudinal edges thereof, ,an upright member resting upon said sill intermediate said flanges, a panel member disposed adjacent to one side of said upright member and interlocked against transverse movement with one of said upwardly extending fianges, a metal strip arranged in superposed relation to the other of said upwardly extending iianges and 4interlocked against transverse movement relatively thereto, and a panel member disposed upon the opposite side of said upright member above said metal strip engaging and overlying at least a portion o! said metal strip and interlocked against transverse movement relatively to said metal strip.

6. In a building construction of the class described, an upright member, a horizontal sill member supporting said upright member and having an upwardly extending iiange along one longitudinal edgethereof, a metal strip arranged in superposed relation and interlocked against transverse movement relatively to said ilange, a retaining clip secured to said upright member above said upturned flange, a second metal strip disposed substantially parallel to said sill and interlocked against transverse movement relative to said retaining clip, and a slab or panel member disposed between said strips and interlocked against transverse movement with each oi said strips.

. said sill and spaced inwardly 'from said vertical flange; horizontally and vertically spaced panel supporting clips on said studs, each of said clips having a panel retaining ange; and a series of superposed horizontal courses of panels constituting a wall arranged in confronting relationship to said studs, each of said panels being formed of a continuous sheet of metal and including a body having an upwardly extending lip atv its upper edge and an upwardly extendingchanneled interlocking member at its lower edge lying in a plane substantially common to said lip, the channel of said interlocking member opening downwardly, the channel of the interlocking members of the panels of each of the courses except the lowermost slidably receiving the lip of subjacent panels and also receiving the panel retaining flange of certain of saidclips, the interlocking member ofthe panels of the lowermost course slidably receiving the vertical flange of said'slll and `having a portion thereof disposed between said studs and said vertical flange.

FRANK STREICH. 

